Lucky Underwear
by Mitsuuuu
Summary: Kotetsu's attempts to keep an embarrassing New Year's Eve tradition unknown to Barnaby are ruined, and he is soon faced with no choice but to confess to his strange lucky underwear custom.


**Lucky Underwear**

The champagne bottle fizzed, and tiny bubbles leapt as the drink was poured. Kotetsu made an excited shout when the cork popped open and bounced off of the ceiling, grinning from ear-to-ear in all of his enthusiastic merriment. Barnaby would have preferred his favorite rose wine, and he was sure Kotetsu wouldn't have minded a casual can of beer, but it was New Year's Eve. Champagne was the classic celebratory beverage for the occasion. Neither of them actually minded sacrificing one evening for a glass of champagne over their any-day-of-the-year favorites, nor did Barnaby in particular mind holding the intimate New Year's Eve celebration at his apartment.

"Cheers," Kotetsu said as he lightly clinked their glasses together.

"To a wonderful new year," Barnaby smiled, and took a small sip as Kotetsu did. He lowered his glass to the table, proud he had actually taken the time to temporarily replace his normally small end table with one large enough to comfortably seat both of them. Much more appropriate for a date for two. He looked over at his large television screen, listening to a woman eagerly report that only forty minutes remained until the new year. And Kotetsu still hadn't finished making the late-night meal he was so adamant about.

"Is there a reason why we have to eat so late?" Barnaby asked. "You could have been cooking an hour ago."

"You'll see! There's a method to my madness," the older hero laughed and stood up, leaning across the table to give his partner a kiss. "I'm throwing off your whole eating schedule, huh. Think you can forgive me?"

The blonde wouldn't have taken more than a moment to think had he not been swayed by that kiss. "I'll think about it," he teased him, and waved him off. "Finish soon. I don't want to miss the ball drop."

He watched him obediently leave, and then reclined comfortably in his chair. Kotetsu had been with him since the beginning of their evening. Earlier, at a time much more reasonable time, Barnaby had prepared a special batch of beef stroganoff. Hours later into the night, Kotetsu spontaneously decided that he needed to prepare his own special meal. Partially due to the alcohol in his system, Barnaby had been feeling nice enough to grant his spontaneous partner access to all of his kitchen, and he tried his hardest to be lenient about eating so close to midnight. They were only celebrating, and what celebration didn't have food.

Of course, he expected to be served nothing but only thing the older hero could prepare. Still, he had purposefully saved room to have a generous helping of his partner's food.

"Bon appetit!" Kotetsu exclaimed as he set the plates down.

Barnaby looked unexcited. "As expected."

The dinner, while not much of a surprise, still was an unlikely combination – a bowl of the usual recipe of fried rice with an added scoop or two of black eyed peas mixed in. Barnaby hadn't entirely understood the significance of the black eyed peas until Kotetsu started to insist their importance in New Year's Eve tradition. It had been something he had stuck to for as long as he could remember, and he had even bothered to call his daughter to remind her to tell her grandmother to prepare a batch for their own dinner. Kaede had responded with the usual attitude, finding the tradition as odd and unappetizing as Barnaby was already beginning to see it as.

Nevertheless, he spooned through the bowl and ate with little complaint.

"Aren't you going to tell me why?" he asked. "You haven't told me much."

Kotetsu looked over at him with an arched eyebrow. "Why what?" his mouth was full. Barnaby had been in the middle of opening his mouth to clarify when the older hero noticed the peas on his partner's spoon and the realization struck him. "Ah, the black eyed peas! I've always been told they're just lucky, Bunny. The tale goes that if you eat them on New Year's Eye, you'll have great luck and good fortune for the rest of the new year." Whenever he shared the explanation, he always managed to laugh. "That's really all there is to it."

"It sounds more like superstition than tradition to me," Barnaby murmured. He dipped his spoon back into his bowl to collect another hearty mouthful. "Are there any more bizarre traditions of yours that I should know about?"

Kotetsu burst out into a short, nervous laugh. He waved his spoon in Barnaby's direction and shook his head as he scoffed, all of his attention suddenly focused on nothing but the food in front of him. "N-No, there's nothing! What makes you think I'd have more weird traditions?"

His partner's unexpected nervousness caught him off guard. Barnaby gave him a questioning face, looking him over from head-to-toe. "Well…knowing you, there's always something else," he said after a moment, his brow furrowed. He paused as his suspicion grew, his body leaning forward over his bowl. "There _is_ something else, isn't there, Kotetsu. Why else would you be so jumpy."

"Jumpy? Who's jumpy!"

"What are you not telling me?"

Kotetsu bit his lip. "Bunny, now you're interrogating me!"

"How embarrassing could it be? You've told me things far worse."

He turned red. "I haven't!" he denied.

Barnaby looked amused. "You've told me about the mole on your foot _on our first date,_ and you've told me about nearly every one of your 'drunken escapades,' as you've called them. Not to mention each of your unusual habits…"

"Bu-Bunny, I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work this time!" Kotetsu claimed, again gesturing with his spoon. The utensil slipped from his fingers and ended up falling to the floor. He turned his face to look down at it, and blinked before he stood up to bend over and grab it. "Look at you, getting this old man all worked up," he chuckled as he reached. "I better not throw out my back with all of this bending over."

Barnaby watched him aimlessly as he lifted his glass to his lips, sighing through his nose. He was determined to figure out what Kotetsu refused to tell him, his eyes glaring sharply from just behind the rim of his wineglass. However, he suddenly found himself unable to sip his champagne when something out of the ordinary came to his attention. His partner's shirt lifted up in the back to reveal an undoubtedly tasteful hint of bright red briefs. Having seen Kotetsu much more than indecent on numerous occasions, it struck him as odd to see him wearing a color he had never seen him wear before. Barnaby hadn't even been aware that bright red briefs would be among Kotetsu's collection in the first place.

He acted boldly. He set down his drink with one hand and reached out to grab the stretchy band of Kotetsu's underwear with the other. He gave it a tug, and the older hero stood upright immediately, dropping the spoon on the floor yet again. _"Da_! Wh-What the…B-Bunny, what're you…?!"

"When did you buy these? I've never seen them on you," Barnaby asked right away, releasing the underwear to hear it give a snap against Kotetsu's skin. His older partner was wincing not only from the slight sting of the elastic snapping against his skin, but out of a sudden loss for words. It didn't help that sharp green eyes were staring at him, sizing him up in anticipation for a believable answer. But, judging by Kotetsu's random jumpiness, Barnaby was expecting anything but the truth.

"I, uh…you know, funny story!" his laugh was shaky and nervous. "Remember when I spent the night a few days ago? I was going through your drawer! And, uh…somehow, your underwear ended up with all of my stuff! I was too embarrassed to say anything, so I figured –"

"I've never purchased that brand," Barnaby corrected him. He stood up to plant his hands on his hips. His look was serious over something any other person would see as petty, but he demanded an explanation for the underwear his partner continued to be so suspiciously panicked about. After a few more tongue-tied stammers, Kotetsu ran his fingers through his hair defeatedly and blew out a sigh from between his lips. His amber eyes avoided meeting the younger hero's probing stare. He pulled down his shirt and hoisted up his pants before finally mumbling the truth.

"Alright! You win. It's…it's another tradition," he admitted.

Barnaby folded his arms. "Another tradition? And I thought you just told me that you didn't have any other traditions."

"I didn't think you'd see!" Kotetsu whined, finally bending over to pick up the spoon again and set it on the counter. "This one I got from my mom, too – surprise, surprise," he chuckled. "She told me once when I was younger than wearing red underwear can bring good luck, fortune and all that good stuff for the new year. I did it once, as a gag. Turns out I stuck with it!" He smiled widely and nervously, scratching at the back of his head. "Pretty silly, huh."

He watched Barnaby smirk and take a few steps closer to him, until he had the older hero leaned back against the table. He didn't look unamused with his behavior for once. If anything, the look on his face told Kotetsu that there was something he actually really liked about the idea. "Idiot. You should have told me, old man," Barnaby scolded in a whisper.

Kotetsu blinked and lifted his eyebrows. "…Oh, yeah? You're telling me this is one tradition you wouldn't have a problem with?"

The blonde shook his head slowly. "Not at all, Kotetsu. This one might already be one of my favorites." His hand slipped downward, and eager fingers extended to push up the older hero's shirt. His fingertips first grazed warm skin, and then drifted further to brush over the elastic band of his underwear again. He snapped it twice against his skin and gave him a naughty smile, a smile the nervous-no-more old man mirrored. "The red looks nice on you. If only I had known you were wearing these all along. I might have been inclined to give you your New Year's present earlier."

"…Present?" Kotetsu felt his heart skip. He wondered if Barnaby had sipped more champagne throughout the course of their evening than he was aware of, but he couldn't mistake the look on his face. He quickly checked his wristwatch. "There's still a few more minutes left in the hour…"

"My present can't be rushed. You'll have to be patient," he told him. "Right now, you should realize that you're going to have more luck than me in the new year," Barnaby went on. "You had the peas, and now you're wearing red underwear. Shouldn't I heighten my luck, too?"

Kotetsu made a sound. "You have a point. Your luck for the new year might not be completely ruined if you hurry," he persuaded through a smirk.

Barnaby gave him a look and peeled himself from his body. "I'll only be a moment," he promised and stepped off toward his bedroom. Kotetsu took a second to sit himself down in the meantime, adjusting his chair to face the television screen. He had been too engrossed in a spot-on performance by Blue Rose to hear the younger hero enter the room again. Long arms wrapped themselves around him and his chair to catch by him surprise. Kotetsu leaned his head back and found himself peering up into his partner's pretty face again. He lifted a hand to touch his cheek, his fingers easing partway into soft blonde hair.

"Slip into something red for me?" he whispered, easing from his arms to stand up and bring him into his hold instead.

Barnaby met his eyes playfully and first kissed him before giving an answer, relishing in the feeling of the older hero's strong arms wrapped around him. "Something for you, and for my luck in the new year," he whispered, sliding a single, teasing finger down a firm chest. "Why don't you take a peek?"

Kotetsu cut to the chase, hiking up just a little bit of Barnaby's black undershirt, to then slip some of his hand past his pants waistband. "Don't mind if I do," he purred. He gave a careful upward pull on elastic, and smiled wide. "Ahh. The lucky red briefs," he observed in a breathless groan, wasting no time to loosen his partner's belt and let his pants fall to pool at his ankles. He realized his sudden need to see the lucky underwear completely, fitted to those slender, shapely legs, clinging to his anatomy. It took Barnaby less than a second to do the same to Kotetsu, his arms wrapped tight around his neck as he smothered him in a kiss with almost as much passion as the one he planned on giving him when the clock struck midnight.

"You're terrible, old man," he accused in a whine. "W-We'll miss the ball drop!"

"We've still got a couple minutes!" the older hero insisted, gasping as he briefly broke their kiss. "C'mon. Let's start this whole New Year's kiss thing a little early."

Barnaby made a face. "Don't you think this is a bit more than a kiss?"

Kotetsu grinned. "Think of it as our _own_ tradition."

His hands slid down his partner's backside and against his rear, squeezing him in a way that always made the blonde flinch up into his touch, against his body. Barnaby tried to give a glare even underneath his bright red blush, but the kiss that claimed his lips had him loose in the legs and wobbly-kneed all over again. Kotetsu smiled and laughed quietly against his lips, taking small steps backwards until the heel of his foot unexpectedly met the wall beside the television screen. He backed up against it and then slid down, bringing Barnaby down with him. The blonde ended up stretched out beneath him, on his back, and their moaning kisses ceased suddenly at the sound of _"ten, nine, eight…!"_ coming from the television.

"Look at that. Just in time," Barnaby panted, sitting upright.

Kotetsu did the same and draped an arm around his shoulders, quietly saying the _"five, four, three, two, one"_ countdown with the reporters and the hundreds upon hundreds of citizens present at the actual event. Both half-naked heroes – clad in nothing but their lucky underwear – watched with childlike awe as the ball dropped and confetti sprinkled, decorating the cityscape dazzlingly in New Year's glee. Barnaby turned his face as his partner did, and leaned in to give him the longest, sweetest kiss.

"Happy New Year, Kotetsu," he murmured, sliding into his lap. As Kotetsu leaned back against the wall again, Barnaby weaved his legs around his waist, his arms around his neck. The older hero gently eased the pretty face closer, unable to stop himself from bowing forward to give him just one more kiss. At that moment, he felt more than just lucky. He had been blessed with all he could ever ask for on the very last day of the year – lucky peas, lucky underwear and his lucky charm. He had to be the luckiest man in Stern Bild.

"Happy New Year, Barnaby," he said lovingly. His smile was crooked, a little devious, but as endearing as always as he picked him up and carried him towards the bedroom. "Let's start this new year off with a bang."


End file.
